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Valio v. Bd. of Fire and Police Commissioners of Village of Itasca

Case Date: 02/03/2000
Court: 2nd District Appellate
Docket No: 2-99-0019

Valio v. Bd. of Fire and Police Commissioners of Village of Itasca, No. 2-99-0019

2nd District, 3 February 2000

JOSEPH VALIO,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

THE BOARD OF FIRE AND POLICECOMMISSIONERS OF THE VILLAGE OF ITASCA;CHERYL MEYN, DANIEL McDONALD, AND JOHNBINNEBOSE, Members; and MICHAEL J. McDONALD,Chief of Police of the Village of Itasca,

Defendants-Appellants.

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Du Page County.

No. 98--MR--132

Honorable John W. Darrah, Judge, Presiding.

JUSTICE McLAREN delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendants, the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners of the Village of Itasca and its members, Cheryl Meyn, DanielMcDonald, and John Binnebose (collectively, the Board), and Michael J. McDonald, chief of police of the Village of Itasca,appeal the circuit court's reversal of the Board's termination of the plaintiff, Joseph Valio, for violations of certain Itascapolice department rules and regulations. We reverse and reinstate the decision of the Board.

The following facts are taken from the record. In November, 1997, defendant Michael McDonald, the Village of Itascachief of police, filed three charges against the plaintiff, Joseph Valio, seeking the plaintiff's termination from the Itascapolice department. The complaint alleged that the plaintiff violated 11 different rules and regulations of the Itasca policedepartment. The charges concerned three separate incidents, two emergency incidents occurring on October 19 and 23,1997, and the investigation that followed the October 19, 1997, incident. After a hearing, the Board terminated the plaintiff.The plaintiff filed a complaint for administrative review with the circuit court. The circuit court reversed the Board'sfindings and decision.

CHARGE No. ONE - MEDICAL EMERGENCY

The first charge against the plaintiff concerned a medical emergency call on October 19, 1997. The complaint alleged thatthe plaintiff improperly responded to the medical emergency and filed an unacceptable report both in violation of certainpolice department rules and regulations.

The evidence at the Board hearing revealed that, while on duty, the plaintiff was dispatched to respond to a "man passed outand unresponsive" at an address in Itasca. Commander Rusty Votava testified that the dispatch received by the plaintiff wasa medical emergency requiring a code 1 response which, according to the Itasca police department manual, included full useof lights and sirens. The plaintiff responded to the October 19, 1997, dispatch with a code 3, using no lights or sirens.Votava testified that code 3 responses were for nonemergency calls only. The medical emergency involved a fatal heartattack. The plaintiff arrived at the scene 6